Bukavu, 10 March, 2022 / 10:05 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis will be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) “as the father of a big family”, the Catholic Archbishop of the country’s Bukavu Archdiocese has said.
Archbishop François-Xavier Maroy Rusengo who was addressing journalists Wednesday, March 9 spoke about Papal visit that has been scheduled for July this year.
“The Pope is coming as the father of a big family. The first thing is to comfort the people of God, Catholics in particular and the Congolese people in general on the consolidation of faith in Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Maroy told journalists about the two-African-nation Papal trip that is to begin in DRC, and end in South Sudan.
The Local Ordinary of DRC’s Bukavu Archdiocese who had been participating in a preparatory meeting with the Governor of North Kivu Province, Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, further said, “The Pope is coming to implore divine mercy so that the Congolese people may be reconciled with God, with themselves and with each other.”
“Pope Francis will touch the hearts of the Congolese people and make them understand that there is no interest in living through useless confrontations, useless conflicts, but we must build a single people, the people of God in the true sense of the word,” he added in reference to the July 2-5 trip during which the Holy Father is expected to meet the people of God in the cities of Kinshasa and Goma, the latter city being part of the North Kivu Province.
